Homewood, Pennsylvania



From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of September 17, 2004

Woman who shot attacker tells story



Her nervous fingers gripped the handle of the .38-caliber revolver tucked in the pocket of her sweatpants.



She couldn't see clearly. Her eyes crossed as they focused on the barrel of a .22-caliber rifle inches from her nose.



Charmaine Dunbar, a 44-year-old mother of three, refocused her gaze in the predawn light. Mental images flashed before her.



"He said, 'Stand there so I can shoot you.' He looked like a devil," Dunbar said yesterday.



The man she said confronted her, Daniel Wesley, 27, is on trial on charges that he raped or sexually assaulted eight women and girls in the East End two years ago.



Dunbar's first encounter with Wesley, whom she identified yesterday in court, was at about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 10, 2002. She survived it. Her second encounter came just a while later, and, that time, she not only survived but conquered.



Dunbar did not know her attacker. He wore a gray hooded sweat shirt covering much of his head, and baggy blue jeans with the cuffs rolled up. The long-barreled rifle had been pulled from his waistband and the roomy leg of his jeans.



Dunbar, who works as a security guard, was prepared for the dangerous Homewood streets. She carried her pistol in her pocket just in case.



Still, she was not quite ready in their first meeting when Wesley pulled the rifle on Murtland Avenue, where she was walking her dog, Jagger. He had been stooped behind a car and stood and raised the weapon toward her when she walked by.



"Please, don't shoot," she said.



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